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Topic: How Much is Too Much? (Read 13967 times)

Ok, so I went to Target yesterday, and I was completely disgusted by what I saw...

TVC figures for $10.79?! Absurd! I had heard from reports that Target had upped their basic figure prices by a dollar - which should have made TVC $8.99 (the original price in August, and even just a few weeks ago, was $7.99). But now the price has gone up a whole $3.

Is there any way to complain to Hasbro about these rip-off prices? I'm sorry, there is no way an action figure is worth nearly $11 + tax. Sure, I'm a sucker, and I'll probably keep ending up buying from Target, since I really have nowhere else (no TRU, no Walmart), so I'm pretty much screwed.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention SL and TCW went up $1, too.

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"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

Holy schmoley... I've not heard of this hike anywhere till now. I'd say someone at Target is watching TRU and figuring they can charge the same. If this is going to happen around the country, like the $8.99 hike, I'm officially out I think.

WM is still holding strong at the normal price figures supposedly should be.

I will complain to them by not paying full price at retail. I'd rather start ordering cases/sets online or hold out for sales if I have to. Man, I remember when people were freaking out that figures hit $7 instead of $6.

I think $7.99 is too high personally. $6.99 is my "this is fair" price. $7.99 is "This is more than I want to pay but I'll go along and just buy far fewer extras than I used to" price. $8.99 is "You suck as a retailer and I have to seriously consider quitting or scaling back purchases dramatically now, plus I'll probably also take it out on you by not purchasing other items at your store" price, and anything above that is my "You're just a dickhead for even asking for that much" price.

$8.99 will certainly end buying a carded set for me... ...Why raise the price? Why ruin a good thing?

Because corporate made them raise it. This was not a Hasbro Star Wars team decision to stick it to collectors, it was a corporate strategy to cover rising costs and keep the stock price looking pretty.

"Hasbro Inc (HAS.O), the No. 2 U.S. toy company, is counting on price increases to combat rising costs of commodities, freight and labor.

The company, which hiked prices by mid-single digits this month, said it will monitor the cost environment closely to see if it has to raise prices again before fall, CFO Deborah Thomas told investors ahead of the toy fair in New York."

Mattel is doing the same thing, planning price increases on all their stuff to cover increases in oil and chinese labor costs. It sucks, but unless you have a secret strategy for allowing Hasbro to make less money and then still keep investors and Wall Street happy, that's the way it is.

$8.99 will certainly end buying a carded set for me... ...Why raise the price? Why ruin a good thing?

Because corporate made them raise it. This was not a Hasbro Star Wars team decision to stick it to collectors, it was a corporate strategy to cover rising costs and keep the stock price looking pretty.

"Hasbro Inc (HAS.O), the No. 2 U.S. toy company, is counting on price increases to combat rising costs of commodities, freight and labor.

The company, which hiked prices by mid-single digits this month, said it will monitor the cost environment closely to see if it has to raise prices again before fall, CFO Deborah Thomas told investors ahead of the toy fair in New York."

Mattel is doing the same thing, planning price increases on all their stuff to cover increases in oil and chinese labor costs. It sucks, but unless you have a secret strategy for allowing Hasbro to make less money and then still keep investors and Wall Street happy, that's the way it is.

Working for manufacturer myself, I can appreciate the need to increase prices as commodities increase. The price of most CPG items are on the rise these days, so an increase by itself isn't a big shocker. For me, it is the amount of increase with each wave that is disturbing. Most companies use these types of economic conditions to not only offset rising costs, but sneak a little padding into the margin. After all, it is far easier to increase your price when everything else is increasing and you have an excuse - far harder when you're the only brand out there asking for more money.

But when prices rose from $5 to $6, that was a 20% increase in price. I'm no expert in action figure cost structure, but I can all but guarantee their cost of goods didn't suffer by 20% five years ago - probably not even half that. Move up to current times and you're seeing price tags move from $8 to $9 or $10 (or more) at some chains. That's an increase of 13 to 25% over last year! I don't know of any other product that sees those kinds of heavy increases all at once (except Kubricks I suppose ). Basically we are paying for an extra figure now with every wave of 4 characters! Here's food for thought:

If Hasbro were selling $3.50 gallons of milk last year, you'd suddenly be paying $4.38/gallon in 2011. Kids, you can have water.If Hasbro made $500 flat screen TVs last year, That TV just increased in price another $125. Guess I won't be watching TV while drinking my water.If Hasbro sold $20,000 cars a year ago, that same car would now cost you $25,000 a year later!!! Forget 0% financing, you better start including -5% financing.

These kinds of increases are just ridiculous. Lets say action figures have an average elasticity of -1, which essentially means you're going to lose the same percentage of sales for every percentage increase in price. So, if Hasbro's cool with losing 25% of their sales, I guess they're just fine raising the prices from $8 to $10. I know I'd be much happier with one or two $.25 increases throughout the course of the year and would bet most people wouldn't even blink at it in the short run. Heck, they'd probably be past $10 per figure with a policy like that and still have less people upset about the cost.

It will be interesting to see how many die-hards bail on SW. I know I am after all this time. $7.99 was hard to stomach and $8.99 is just asking too much IMO. I make a decent living - not crazy decent like some of you, but ya....I will forever miss you $4.99 SW figures. Heck even $5.99-$6.99. Oh well....It was a fun ride at least!

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Yeah, it will be interesting to see if anyone (or how many) are finally priced out of the hobby. I'm on a really tight budget the way it is, as I'm only working part-time right now (and likely until our daughter starts school), so I've already cut back. If we do see these types of hikes across the board, I'll be cutting back even more. I've already started skipping figures, and cut out pretty much all the "other" SW stuff last year. I have been buying some CW stuff, but might drop that this year and stick to vintage - and then more selective there as well. I know prices are up across the board for other toy lines, but it gets to the point where it just isn't worth it for what you're getting. $10 for a 3 3/4" action figure? As a premium figure it is one thing, but when the whole line is that way it is another. We don't have those prices yet here at our Targets (although it is at $8.99), but if it hits $10 or more everywhere, I'll have to make some adjustments too. I'm sure I'll always buy some (still really looking forward to much of what is on the way this year, the Bespin Han wave in particular), but it is getting pricey.

Yeah if these prices hold up, I'm down to picking and choosing roughly one figure per wave. I've noticed recently that if you wait a year you can get figures online from guys like tunghori for $5, and sometimes cheaper than that. Sounds a lot better than paying around $10. But I'll see how this all plays out.

I hate to say it, but Hasbro's situation is understandable - but it just straight-up sucks for collectors.

It's a shame that with TVC is doing so well, but it could start to slip with these outrageous prices. If anything, Hasbro should cut down on realistic-styled clones and fill the slots with in-demand characters for better sales.

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"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

I hate to say it, but Hasbro's situation is understandable - but it just straight-up sucks for collectors.

How is a 25% increase in the retail cost understandable?

I mean, in the way they're raising prices, but for what they said is "labor costs", right? Something like that. Now, if they're only raising prices to compete with other brands or just for the hell of it, then hey, that's not cool, but from what I heard it had to do with the factories and stuff.

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"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

I hate to say it, but Hasbro's situation is understandable - but it just straight-up sucks for collectors.

How is a 25% increase in the retail cost understandable?

I mean, in the way they're raising prices, but for what they said is "labor costs", right? Something like that. Now, if they're only raising prices to compete with other brands or just for the hell of it, then hey, that's not cool, but from what I heard it had to do with the factories and stuff.

Again, I would love to hear examples of anything you've encountered raising prices by 25%. I'm sure labor costs and raw materials and all that are increasing, just like they are for everything else. Do we see Non-Hasbro products increasing by anything close to that? I sure would love it if my annual "labor" increase was 25% this year. There is simply no way that this is not profit accretive for them.